The death of the medium Margery
Mina Crandon, the medium known as Margery, died on 1 November 1941. She said she spoke for her dead brother, and Houdini challenged her.
Mina Crandon, known as Margery, was an American medium born in 1888 who died on 1 November 1941. She said she spoke for her late brother Walter Stinson. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle praised her abilities, while the magician Harry Houdini challenged them, and the American Society for Psychical Research and Scientific American staff investigated her. Wikipedia says investigators who studied Crandon concluded she lacked any paranormal power, and others caught her in outright deception.
One account describes a rapid decline after the death of her husband, Dr. Crandon, in 1939: she grew melancholy and turned to alcohol. Her great-granddaughter Anna Thurlow says in an interview that she died aged 51, a day after Houdini's death date came round. Thurlow adds that she has heard Crandon foretold her own date of death, which is family hearsay.
"Mina 'Margery' Crandon (1888–November 1, 1941) was an American psychic medium who performed under the stage name 'Margery' and claimed to channel her dead brother, Walter Stinson. Investigators who studied Crandon concluded that she had no such paranormal ability, and others detected her in outright deception.[1][2] She became known as her alleged paranormal skills were touted by Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and were disproved by magician Harry Houdini. Crandon was investigated by members of the American Society for Psychical Research and employees of the Scientific American."
- Interview with Anna Thurlow, great granddaughter of Margery, Wild About Harry
- Mina Crandon & Harry Houdini: The Medium and The Magician, HistoryNet (American History magazine)